Starved
Kaia I was nine when she began my career as a thief. If my life didn't depend on it, I wouldn't do it, I told myself again, as always. Yesterday, I stole a pair of scissors to chop off most of my long red hair, leaving it around shoulder length. Three days before that, I took two handfuls of something called trail mix. It gave me enough food for that day and the day after that, but yesterday and the day before I was starving. In fact, I hardly had the strength to sit up to get out of my home, which by the way, is a messily spread layer of moss and leaves under a weeping willow tree, which is comfortable and out of sight. In other words, the rogue Others won't be able to find and kill me when I'm asleep. The darkness is one of the few protections I have left. But like most other days, I knew I had to do something, anything, to stop the hunger that was gnawing at my stomach. I slowly sat up, and after I was satisfied that the coast was clear, I slid out under the willow tendrils and dashed through a path, which I had stumbled upon trying to hunt. When I'm lucky, I can use it to bring down a deer. After practicing since I was around seven, I've been able to hit almost any target with a bow and arrow, and have become extremely skilled with a dagger, practicing with one my father gave me before Mom died and he left me, at age nine, to fend for myself. That's when I became a thief. Alexi Nobody believed me when I said that the burglar alarm was disabled. Of course, unlike the Others, the government favored us. Everyday, there was food, water, shelters, protection, and more luxries than I could ever name. So I sort of couldn't wait to say "I told you so," when I caught the girl in our house. She had her hand in the jar of nuts and was holding two packs of dried fruit. Her back was to me, so I had the advantage of suprise. Of course, instead of following the instructions that we were given by all of our teachers, I didn't grab a weapon of any sort, like I should when dealing with a possible Other. But, being stubborn like I am, I crept near her until I was a few feet away. "Who are you, and what exactly do you think your doing here?" I asked in my most commanding tone, which wasn't very convincing, seeing as I was scared out of my mind. The stranger whirled around to face me, and I got my first look at her. She wasn't as young as I thought, in fact, she was probably around my age, but small. And when I say small, I don't mean short. I mean that she was skinny as a rail, although she was about a head shorter than I was, she had an imposing aura surrounding her. Her straight red hair was shoulder length and uneven, as if it had been cut with scissors, which it probably had, seeing as only a few days ago my mom was complaining about misplacing her best pair. The most shocking thing about her, however, was her eyes. They gave the appearance of molten lava, and seemed to radiate a soft glow against her, well, dead looking face and body. Clearly she was starving, and there was nobody helping her. Most people who agree with the government would hsve said she didn't deserve the help like those of us who were "loyal" did. I suddenly realized that she had a bow and quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder, and a dagger strapped to her belt. She could murder me if she wanted to, so maybe I should kill her first. But then I realized that if she truly wanted me dead, well, let's just say I wouldn't be worrying about all this right now. I would already be dead. There was hunger and pleading in the girl's eyes. All she really wanted me to do was to step back, pretend like I had never seen her. But of course, that would be too easy, wouldn't it? Kaia "Who are you?" The girl demanded again. "That depends on who's asking," I said, fumbling behind my back for my bow. "Who are you?" "Alexandria Elizabeth Smith, but you can call me Alexi. And now I believe I need to know your name, whoever you are." Noticing what I was doing behind my back, she added "And don't even think about killing me, we're in MY house and I'm not trying to hurt you." "My name is Kaia, and I'm not going to shoot you. I just thought I heard something, that's all." It was a really bad lie, but the best attempt I could make right now. The girl in front of me, Alexi, had short dark brown hair and gold eyes, which may seemed unusual, but when you have powers like mine, you don't get suprised very easily. Trust me on that. "Well it seemed like you were. I learned not to trust Others like you in school," Alexi snapped back. At this point I was ready to send an arrow flying in her direction, but I restrained myself. My best friend Willow was often calling me a straight shot, but I didn't believe her, even though she pointed out that I hit a bull's eye more often than not with any shot, and I didn't really want to be a murderer when I was already a theif. "How did you know that?" I asked, not that I expected an honest answer from her. Her face flushed with color. "Why should I tell you? In case you didn't know, all of the Others, including you are worthless in society unless they are prisoners that get turned in, which is what I'm going to do if you don't leave now. You can keep the food you were trying to steal if you just GET OUT NOW!!!!" By the time she was finished, she was practically screaming. I decided maybe I should take up on her offer and get out of there as fast as I could. Category:Story Category:Runningfern Category:Fiction Category:Starved